Dish-Houston

PHOTO BY ROBERT KNIGHT ARCHIVE/REDFERNSThere was an odd hush that hung in the air that warm morning in August. The town woke up like any other morning to our clock radio alarms tuned to KLBJ and a great tune by an Austin radio staple. Then the next song was also by Stevie Ray Vaughan. And the next one after that. They just flowed over the air waves with no DJ interference. It felt beautiful and eerie. The regular and familiar sound started to take on a somber emotion as it became clear something was wrong. Then after what seemed to be an entire album a quieted, hushed normally out of control, yeller of a DJ said the words that will forever be branded into my memory.

"There was a helicopter crash last night and Stevie Ray Vaughan is missing..."

I didn't hear anything more after that.

I was in high school in Austin, Texas. We had just started the new school year when the news started spreading about what had happened. There was a kid that went to school with us that was rumored to be his nephew but no one ever talked about it because everyone in Austin was related to someone famous, or so it seemed. He wasn't in school that day. The teachers couldn't quiet the kids down, after all, one of our local legends and a hero in some folks eyes had gone missing over night and a helicopter crash had been reported after a concert with Eric Clapton. That was all we knew that morning. It was later in the day that it was confirmed that Stevie Ray Vaughan had, in fact, been in that helicopter and died upon impact. The air had been let out of our lungs, no one could focus after that. The shut the school down for the rest of the day.

The morning of the 26th, the day before the crash, it is reported that Vaughan has shared a nightmare he had had that night with band members. He said he was at his own funeral and saw thousands of mourners. He felt "terrified, yet almost peaceful." 

Austin was an amazing community. Everyone loved everyone and folks came together to support each other. A great example of how much that community functioned as a collective is the impromptu candlelight vigil night of the 28th. Right after the local new stations reported what had happened, people just showed up at Zilker Park. A place Stevie Ray Vaughan played regularly. They wanted to connect to their friend one more time. That is how Austin was. 

Since that day in 1990 an August 27th goes by that I don't remember that moment in time. It stands still as the clouds pass over. My best friend's mom was behind the SRV statue that now stands on Lady Bird Lake. As it turns out that kid  in our class was his nephew. His name is Tyrone. It is so enjoyable seeing T play his guitar...the one his uncle gave him when he was a boy. You can see both Jimmy and Stevie in Tyrone when he plays. It is beautiful. Time, it turns out, does go on....Family Style.